Dictionary of Bible Themes  »  5000 Humanity  »  5200 Human civilisation  »  5613 weights and measures  »  5617 weights and measures, liquid

These terms derive originally from the containers used, which held a fixed amount. There is some uncertainty about the capacity of the bath, and therefore of other liquid measures dependent upon it. Measures are given in ascending order, with their approximate imperial and metric equivalents.

Log (1/72 bath): about 1/2 pint (about 0.3 litre)

Leviticus 14:10 This is the only mention in Scripture of the log, as a measure of oil used in the ritual for cleansing infectious skin diseases. See also Leviticus 14:12-18,21-22

Hin (1/6 bath): about 7 pints (about 4 litres)

Exodus 29:38-41 The hin was used as a measure of oil, wine and water. See also Leviticus 23:12-13; Numbers 15:4-10; Ezekiel 4:11; Ezekiel 46:5-7

Bath (1 ephah): about 5 gallons (about 22 litres)

Ezekiel 45:11 The bath was the equivalent liquid measure of the ephah, and was used to measure oil, wine and water. See also 1 Kings 5:11; Kings 7:38; 2 Chronicles 2:10; Ezra 7:21-22; Isaiah 5:10; Ezekiel 45:14; Luke 16:6 The measure translated as “eight hundred gallons” is “one hundred batous” in the original (“batos” being the Greek form of the Hebrew “bath”); John 2:6 The measure translated as “twenty to thirty gallons” is “two to three metretas” in the original, a Greek measure roughly equivalent to the bath.

See also

4293  water
4488  oil
4544  wine